Fire hazard and safety device for airplanes



Dec. 21, 1948. N. LACROTTE 2,457,103

FIRE HAZARD AND SAFETY DEVICE FOR AIRPLANES Filed April 25., 1938INVENTOIR NA ZAIRE LACROTTE AT TOR N EYS Patented Dec. 21, 1948 "UNITEDSTATES PATENT O FFI'CE iDomaines-temporary (provisional) executor oradministrator of the estate of said"'Lacrotte,

deceased Application April*25, 1938,:Serial No..204 ,09-7 .In LuxemburgApril 26,1937

. Section'3, Publicv Law 690, August 8,1946 LPatent expires April 26,1957 '6 Claims.

1 'Theinvention has 'for'its object'a safety-device which protectsithepilot and the passengers of'anraeroplane, in case of an accident on'theground, either onlanding or in taking off, by

means of an arrangement of the seatssuch as toabsorb shocks, byautomatically'breaking the ignition contact of the engine and byautomatically releasing a, preventive extinguisher system assoon as theaeroplane strikes-the ground.

"The invention essentially'consists in'the suspension of theseats insucha manner. as to enable them, according to circumstances, either tomovetowards the .rear responsive to the .action of buffers which come intocontact with the ground (case of a nose dive), or to move down towardsthebottomoi-thecockpit by contact of the roof of the cockpit with theground (case of overturning).

The above mentioned movements, which are transmitted "by any usual meanssuch as a sheathed cable or a rod, enable the ignition of the engine.tobe automatically cut off and effect the automatic release of anextinguisher of the usual type-in aviation, such as a foam extinguisher,which preventively smothers the power plant .when the aeroplane impingesviolently on the ground.

-'Ihe accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, an embodiment ofthe device which is the object of the invention.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation in part section, of the body of a singleseater aeroplane equipped according to the invention, the safety devicebeing in the inoperative position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the inside of the aeroplane corresponding toFig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows the position taken up by the pilots seat in the case of anose dive.

Fig. 4 shows the position of the seat and of the cockpit in the case ofoverturning.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a telescopic buffer.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical view of the arrangement of the seats for amulti-seater aeroplane.

As can be seen in the drawing, two telescopic buffers l which arearranged under the nose of the engine extend to the joints 2 of thepilots seat 3. Said telescopic buffers l comprise shock absorbingelements 4 (see Fig. 5) made of rubber which are enclosed in cases Iwhich are extended by rods 9 pivoted at I" on rods 9' that extend to 2.Slideways M which are fixed in the body ensure the rectilinear movementof the telescopic buffers I.

The pilots seat 3 is suspended by rods 5 on pivots.5' which are fixed'to the ceiling 6 vof the cockpit "6. The cockpit 6, which. is pivotedat E5" on the body, is supported by the telescopic shock: absorbers "E,the bodies of which are secured to the aeroplane body and the rods ID ofwhich are pivoted at 5 on the rooi fi' of the cockpit. The-pilot is heldon his seat by a belt-8. An instrument panel H, which is fixed onithebody and placed under the pilots eyes, generally forms the dangerouszone against which-it is necessary to prevent the pilot frombeing'thrown in caseof a sudden impact.

Control devices for cutting off the ignition and releasing theextinguisher and comprising handles, levers, cams, etc., may beplaced atany point of'the'rnova'ble arrangement, for example on the rods 9 andI'll, and may be connected to the ignition .device of'the engine and tothe extinguisher by means of cables, rods'or any other means.

In the case of-multi-seater aeroplanes, a methof connecting thepassengers seats with the pilots seatior obtaining a uniform rec0i1,'mayconsist in a shaft 82 having cross-bars I3.

"'Ihe device operates as follows:

'When, owing to an accident, the aeroplane reaches-the ground in a nosedive, the buffers I, which are pushed .back in the direction of thearrow (see Fig. 3) in'the slideways M, compress the shock absorberelements 4, then, through the instrumentality of the rods 9 and 9', pushback the pilots seat 3 towards the rear of the aeroplane. This backwardmovement is accompanied by a pivoting of the seat 3 about the pivots 5.Owing to this fact, the pilot, who is held on his seat by the belt 8, isautomatically moved away from the dangerous zone formed by the panel II.

When the aeroplane overturns, the partial driving of the roof 6' of thecockpit into the aeroplane body by Swinging about the pivot 6", has theeffect of driving the rods ID into the telescopic shock absorbers 7which remain stationary since they are secured to the body; consequentlythe rods 5 cause the whole of the seat 3 to swing about the pivot l"which is held stationary in this operation by the telescopic buffers I.

It will be understood that the movement of one of the members of thedevice. for example of the rod 9 or the rod l0, may be used to actuatedevices for cutting off the ignition of the engine and for preventiveextinction.

It is obvious that numerous modifications may be made in the devicewhich has just been described and illustrated. Thus, the shape and thearrangement and also the extent of the recoil of the buffers and of theseats made be varied to enable them to be adapted to different kinds ofaeroplanes, Without exceeding the scope of the invention.

Similarly, the recoil movement and the inward movement of the seats maybe combined and take place substantially at the same time, when the nosedive is accompanied by overturning.

I claim:

1. A safety device for aeroplanes, comprising in combination with anaeroplane body; a movable cockpit, means pivotally connecting saidcockpit with the aeroplane body, a seat means connected with said seatand said cockpit for suspending said seat from the roof of said cockpit,a telescopic buffer connected With said aeroplane body and thesecond-mentioned means, another telescopic buffer situated at the frontof the aeroplane body, and means connecting the second-mentioned bufferwith said seat.

2. The device in accordance With claim 1, which comprises a member forcutting ofi the ignition of the engine, extinguishers, and connectingmembers responsive to the movement of the movable part of the device andthereby automatically ensuring the cutting on" of the engine ignitionand the automatic release of the extinguishers for preventinglysmothering the engine.

3. A safety device for aeroplanes, comprising in combination with anaeroplane body; a movable cockpit, means pivotally connecting saidcockpit with the aeroplane body, a seat, means connected with said seatand said cockpit for suspending said seat from the roof of said cockpit,a telescopic buffer connected with said aeroplane body and thesecond-mentioned means, another telescopic bufier situated at the frontof the aeroplane body, rods connected with the secend-mentioned buiferand said seat to cause said seat to swing When the aeroplane bodynosedives to the ground, and a guide engaging one of said rods.

4. A safety device for aeroplanes, comprising in combination with anaeroplane body; a movable cockpit, means pivotally connecting saidcockpit with the aeroplane body, a seat, means connected with said seatand said cockpit for suspending said seat from the roof of said cockpit,a telescopic buffer connected with said aeroplane body and thesecond-mentioned means, another telescopic buffer situated at the frontof the aeroplane body, and means connecting the second-mentioned bufferwith said seat and causing a turning of said seat When the cockpit isdriven into the aeroplane body by the overturning of the aeroplane body.

5. A safety device for aeroplanes, comprising in combination with anaeroplane body; a movable cockpit, means pivotally connecting saidcockpit with the aeroplane body, a seat, means connected with said seatand said cockpit for suspending said seat from the roof of said cockpit,a telescopic bufier connected with said aeroplane body and thesecond-mentioned means and comprising a rubber shock-absorbing element,another telescopic buffer comprising a rubber shock-absorbing elementsituated at the front of the aeroplane body, and means connecting thesecond-mentioned buffer with said seat.

6. A safety device for aeroplanes, comprising in combination with anaeroplane body; a movable cockpit, means pivotally connecting saidcockpit with the aeroplane body, a plurality of seats, means connectedWith said seats and said cockpit for suspending said seats from the roofof said cockpit, a shaft, cross bars connectedwith said shaft and saidseats for rigidly securing the seats to each other, said shaft impartinsimultaneously the same movement to the various seats, a telescopicbuffer connected with said aeroplane body and the second-mentionedmeans, another telescopic buffer situated at the front of the aeroplanebody, and means connecting the second-mentioned buffer with one of saidseats.

NAZAIRE LACROTTE.

REFERENCES GITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Miller Feb. 1, 1938

